Page 2 of Gin and Bear It

He glances away from me for a moment. “I should ask you why you’re so pro-love.”

“Because I’ve seen it. It can make life so beautiful,” I say. “Like my grandparents. They’ve been together since they were teenagers, and they still kiss and dance around their kitchen like it hasn’t been over fifty years. They run our family’s hotel together, too. That kind of love is my goal.”

Ash digests what I said. “So they’re outliers. That’s like dreaming of being a professional athlete with no backup plan. Could it happen? Yeah. But could it happen to just anyone? No. And even that’s not a great comparison. You can work at sports. You can’t work at being a perfectly lovable person. It’s more like a fairy tale.”

I frown, walking past him so he doesn’t see how much that hurts. I’ve always loved love, and my grandparents always made it seem possible. My dad, who’s been a widower since my mom passed when I was four, never remarried or even dated because his love for my mom was so strong.

To have Ash reduce it to a fairy tale feels like a slap in the face.

But part of me worries that he’s right.

My only “success” in love is my off-and-on-again relationship with Troy, who I met in my hospitality master’s program. We’re finally broken up for good after a largely passionless attempt to make things work again six months ago. Thankfully, he quit his job at my family’s historic hotel where we worked together so we don’t have to see each other regularly anymore.

And since then? My love life has been dead, and I haven’t had the drive to go out there and date.

Maybe I’ll never find love. Especially here in Jepsen, where I know way too many people. Small towns don’t really mesh with dating new people, besides tourists. And even then, I couldn’t cross the professional boundary between hotel guest and employee.

“Well, I don’t care if it’s unlikely,” I finally say, mostly to make myself believe it. “I want to fall in love and get married someday. It’s not crazy to have goals in life.”

“So you want to walk right into it?” he asks, almost laughing. “Eyes wide open? Even though statistically, there’s a fifty percent chance it won’t work out?”

“Yep. And that statistic isn’t even entirely accurate.” I forget the details as to why, and I’m too pissed to sort it out. “You still didn’t explain why you’re so against love.”

We round the corner, which leads into a shorter hallway that ends in double doors to the outside. We’re on the opposite side of the building from where most people are now, so it’s quiet. The sound of the music in the banquet hall barely reaches us.

“Because of the reasons I said.” Ash shrugs, hands still in his pockets. “For every couple like your grandparents, there are twenty who are miserable. Plus, you can get the fun part of a relationship without the drama. Easily.”

He closes the gap between us, even though I shouldn’t let him. Yes, Ash is very clearly a man who gets whoever he wants very, very easily. I can see why. He’s the bassist in a fairly popular band, Cinematicas, and he travels all over the country performing. Even if he wasn’t handsome, he could get laid anywhere he went on that fact alone.

But everything about him is striking, from his jaws to his cheekbones to his greenish brown eyes. He fills out his tailored shirt and pants perfectly with lean muscle, and towers over me even though I’m in heels.

Reason leaves my brain in a hurry. I still want him to touch me even though I haven’t been this pissed off at someone in…well, since he pissed me off last, over a decade ago.

He senses my lust like blood in the water and slowly backs me toward the wall. My heart rate picks up as he puts a hand on the wall behind me, keeping a little distance between us. Just enough for me to feel his body heat, but not so close that we’re touching. Teetering on the edge of polite.

He’s going to kiss me. Or at least I think he will—he studies my face instead, once again like he’s trying to place me.

“You recognize me, don’t you?” I say. My voice is breathy even though I’m trying to stay cool. But having Ash this close is throwing all my hormones into a tizzy.

He gives me another long, searching look. “This is a wedding in Jepsen. I recognize a lot of faces. It’s a part of small-town life that I can’t shake. We don’t need to know each other well to have a little fun.”

“Oh my god, Ash. Whatever, I’m done with this.” I push him back. “I’d say I can’t believe it, but with you, I can. Asshole.”

And I thought he couldn’t piss me off more than he has. This is somehow worse than the first kiss incident.

I maintain my composure as I walk back down the hall and into the bathroom, then heave a sigh. Tears sting my eyes. I refuse to cry over him, so I do every breathing exercise I can think of until the urge recedes.

I want to prove him wrong about love, but I don’t want to give him another thought.

The next time I see Ash Stryker will be too damn soon.

ONE

JADA, PRESENT DAY

“How was your stay this time?” I ask the Jenkinses, a married couple who have been coming to my family’s hotel, The Jepsen, for the past thirty-four years they’ve been married. It’s crazy to think they’ve been coming here literally a year longer than I’ve been alive.

But this place sticks with people. They’re far from our only frequent guests.